Rin Dewford and the Ring of Shadows
by knightofdestiny
Summary: When a young boy finds out that he's a wizard and goes off to Hogwarts to learn how to use his magic, he can't think of anything but magic. What he doesn't know is that this new life may lead to his death. First of a planned seven story series.


_Everyone, I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. I just own my characters._

Rin Dewford and the Ring of Shadows

_Chapter One: Unexpected Discovery_

Bright sunlight came flowing into an upstairs room of a large two story house, striking a sleeping boy right in the face and causing him to squint.

"Why does she always leave the curtains open?" the boy said, turning away from the window to avoid the light. He tried to go back to sleep, but quickly realized that getting more sleep would be impossible as he heard a loud voice from downstairs.

"Hey, get up already! You've gotten enough sleep!"

The boy groaned loudly and slithered out of bed, still half asleep. He wandered over to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth and use the toilet. Before leaving, he took a look at himself in the mirror. He looked much more awake now, though his messy hair gave away the fact that he had just woken up. He grabbed some styling gel out of the medicine cabinet where he kept it and put his black hair into the spiky style he favored so much. Afterward, he returned to his room and threw on a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt.

"Rinaldi Dewford, you get down here now, you slowpoke!" called a voice from downstairs.

"I told you Grams, call me Rin!"

Rin was an eleven year old boy living in London with his sister and grandmother, the latter of whom was calling him. While his fist name was indeed Rinaldi, he preferred to be addressed by the shorthand version, 'Rin'.

He knew exactly why his grandmother was rushing him; it was the sixth of July, his birthday, and there were always exciting things planned for his birthday. Rin grabbed his Game Boy from his nightstand, a gift he received on his last birthday, along with his Nintendo Entertainment System. He enjoyed both game systems equally, though he got more use out of the Game Boy since he left the house often. Stuffing the Game Boy into his pocket, Rin ran downstairs where he found his sister, Sicily, sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

"What took you so long, Rinaldi?" she asked, putting extra emphasis on his name.

"Guess I'm just slow, Siciliana," he replied, making sure to put equal emphasis on her full name. Sicily shot a dark glare at him. She hated the use of her full first name as well, and preferred the short version.

"Hey Grams, what's planned for today?" Sicily asked excitedly. She always enjoyed Rin's birthday's as they were hers too. She was Rin's fraternal twin, meaning she shared the same birthday.

"Nothing special today. I thought we'd just have a quiet day to ourselves," their grandmother said.

"Seriously?" Rin asked, astounded. "Is it a surprise or something?"

"No, I just thought that it would be nice for us to stay here, maybe watch a few movies." Rin and Sicily exchanged disappointed looks. Their grandmother saw this and laughed, noticing how similar the two looked. They weren't identical, but still shared some facial similarities, most notably the eyes. They both had the same amber eyes, which had a magnificent shine to them when the sun hit them.

"Trust me you two, I think you'll appreciate a little change of pace."

"I don't know Grams, it seems like this'll be a boring day," Rin said, sighing. "If we were just going to hang out here, why did you wake me up?"

"Well, you never know what might happen." Rin noticed that she said this with a knowing tone in her voice. He wondered what she knew that he didn't.

The day went by at an agonizingly slow pace. The family sat in the living room, watching a few movies, but Rin wasn't too interested. He sat on the floor next to the couch, playing his Game Boy, ignoring the movie that was on. Finally, after four hours, Rin decided that he'd had enough.

"I'm going to take a nap, alright? Wake me up if you guys decide to go somewhere after all."

"Hold on a moment. I don't want you going to bed just yet," his grandmother said.

"Why? We're not doing much, are we?"

"Maybe not, but I have a reason for that."

"What?"

"I'm waiting for someone to show up."

"And you need Sicily and I to be here for that?"

"Yes." Rin waited to see if his grandmother would say anything else. When she didn't, he grudgingly sat down again, curious as to who would be coming. It would be nighttime before Rin would find out.

Around eight o'clock, there was a knock at the door. Rin's grandmother was at the door in a matter of seconds, clearly excited about who it was. She opened the door and was greeted by an old man wearing robes. Rin was at a loss as to who this was.

"Albus, how good to see you again," their grandmother said.

"Ah, Delia, how good to see you. I hope you've been well. Are those the two you spoke of," the man said, pointing to Rin and Sicily.

"Yes, that's them. There have been quite a few strange things that have happened around them, so I have no doubt that they've got the gift."

"Grams, what are you talking about? Who is this guy?" Sicily asked.

"This is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts." her grandmother replied.

"What in the world is Hogwarts?" Rin asked.

"I suppose I should've been more specific. Hogwarts is a school, a school for witchcraft and wizardry."

"Wait, when you say witchcraft, do you mean...magic?" Sicily asked.

"Yes, she does," Dumbledore replied. Hearing this, Rin broke out in laughter.

"Right, a school of magic. I assume you're talking about street magic or something?"

"No, Mr. Dewford, I speak of genuine magic, not the fake kind you are talking about. Allow me to show you." Dumbledore reached into his robes and withdrew what looked like a stick to Rin. He pointed it at the coffee table in the living room and waved it, and a small glass of juice appeared out of nowhere.

"How'd you do that?" Rin exclaimed.

"Magic," Dumbledore said. "And you and your sister can do it as well. After all, you are a wizard, and she's a witch."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I'm here to bring some other news regarding that."

Rin and Sicily spent the next hour learning about Hogwarts and about how their whole family had been wizards and witches. It was a lot of information to absorb, especially the part about going off to Hogwarts in September. Neither kid knew what to think, and by the time Dumbledore had left, their brains were hurting from trying to process everything. Rin, in need of some air, decided to sit on the roof and look at the stars. It wasn't a hard thing to do, thanks to the ladder sitting in the backyard. It wasn't long before Sicily decided to join him.

"So, whatcha thinking about?" she asked.

"What do you think?" he replied.

"I know, it's crazy, isn't it? The two of us actually have magical powers! I almost don't believe it."

"Yeah, but it does explain at lot of the weird stuff that happens around us. Remember that tiger incident at the zoo?"

"I could've sworn the cages were locked! I guess we're lucky it didn't do anything."

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Rin looked excited.

"I think our lives are about to get a lot more fun. Just think about it, a whole school full of kids like us!" Sicily said airily.

"I wonder what the teachers will be like?"

"Who cares? As long as we don't have to see Mr. Patterson again, it'll be paradise. That man can not teach!" Rin nodded in agreement as he and Sicily climbed down and headed back inside.

After an exceptionally tasty dinner and some conversation about wizards and witches, Rin and Sicily headed up to their room to get some sleep. Once they were in their respective beds, however, neither of them found themselves able to sleep. The prospect of going to a school to learn magic was too exciting to allow them to even close their eyes. Rin had always wondered if magic was real, but he realized that all of the magic he had ever seen were just simple tricks. Now he knew that there was real magic, and he would soon be able to do it. A full hour passed before either Rin or Sicily fell asleep, smiles on both of their faces as they began dreaming.


End file.
